SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - June 02, 2015) - Maker Faire Bay Area 2015, the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth, held at the San Mateo Event Center on Friday-Sunday, May 15-17, celebrated it's tenth anniversary in the Bay Area with record attendance, energized crowds, and more projects shared than ever before. This milestone for the event cements the fact that the Maker Movement is at the center of innovation, ingenuity, and creativity, and involves corporations, schools, and home-based DIYers, and all of sorts of Makers in between. Maker Faire Bay Area is at the core of the network of Maker Faires around the world, leading the charge for the change in the way the world learns and makes, produces and consumes, innovates and advances.

"Celebrating a decade of Making and the Bay Area Faire's tenth birthday was such a thrill," said Dale Dougherty, co-founder of Maker Faire and executive chairman of Maker Media. "Maker Faire -- whether in the Bay Area; Springfield, Missouri; or Bogota, Columbia -- has become the place for Makers to connect, share, and effect change. It's what we set out to do from the very beginning, and to see how far we've come with that goal is so rewarding. We know that Maker Faire will continue to expand and press the Maker Movement forward, driving job creation, transforming learning and education, and fostering an inclusive and creative Maker culture."

Highlights from Maker Faire Bay Area 2015 include:

Announcements about partnerships, products and new developments, and more from companies such as Adafruit & Arduino, Atmel, littleBits, and others

Three Bay Area cities -- San Mateo, San Francisco, and Oakland -- declared the week of Maker Faire as "Maker Week" with activities, meetups, and networking events celebrating the Maker Movement

145,000 attendees visited the event -- an increase of 12% over 2014

U.S. attendees came from 46 states; others represented 45 countries from around the world

Over 40% of attendees were first-time visitors to the Faire

59% visited the Faire with their family

1,200 Maker projects were represented including performances and attractions

500+ Maker entries included hands-on activities for attendees

278 presentations and performances across 15 stages took place with leaders of the Maker Movement as they shared their experiences, projects, and talents

24% of Makers were first-time exhibitors

International Makers from all around the world had strong representation this year with 59 exhibits around the Faire

Sustainability practices continue to be an integral part of Maker Faire. In addition to regular food composting and recycling diversion, the following were reclaimed:

24,000 gallons of recycled water for on-site reuse

3,000 lbs. of lumber, furniture, clothing, and materials were donated for reuse

Maker Faire Bay Area is slated to be back for more making, learning, innovating, and fun the weekend of May 21-22, 2016, at the San Mateo Event Center in San Mateo, California.

About Maker FaireMaker Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth -- a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker Movement. It's a place where people of all ages and backgrounds gather together to show what they are making and share what they are learning.

Maker Faire celebrated 131 Faires in 2014 alone and has reached over 2.3 million attendees globally since it launched in San Mateo, CA, in 2006, less than a year after the publication of the first Make: magazine in 2005. The ninth annual Maker Faire Bay Area welcomed some 1,100 makers and 130,000 attendees. World Maker Faire New York, the other flagship event, has grown in five years to 830-plus Makers and 85,000 attendees. Atlanta, Detroit, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Silver Springs, San Diego, Paris, Rome, Oslo, Newscastle (UK), Berlin, Hannover, Trondheim, Seoul, Taipei, Tokyo, Singapore, and Shenzhen host our "featured" larger-scale Maker Faires, and community-driven, independently organized Mini Maker Faires inspire and ignite creative communities everywhere around the United States and internationally.

Located in San Francisco, CA, Maker Media has been widely credited with jumpstarting the worldwide Maker Movement, which has been a transforming force in innovation, culture, and education. In addition to publishing Make: magazine and producing Maker Faire, Maker Media develops "getting started" kits and books it sells through its Maker Shed store as well as other retail channels. Maker Media is based in San Francisco, and has offices in Sebastopol, CA and at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.

Calendar Editors The next flagship Faire is World Maker Faire New York on Saturday-Sunday, September 26-27, 2015, at the New York Hall of Science in Queens, NY. Maker Faire Bay Area 2016 is slated for the weekend of May 21-22, 2016, at the San Mateo Event Center in San Mateo, CA. A full calendar of Faires happening around the world in 2015 can be viewed at http://makerfaire.com/map/.